The Sweetest Guy
by Greenkidneys
Summary: The ties that bind can chafe...


_I'm well aware that this subject has been written about before, but I shamelessly post this anyway. It takes place some time between "Fanatic" and "Dark Shadows"._

_Absolutely none of these characters in here belong to me. All are ©Hiroaki Samura. Even Hana, whom I simply took the liberty to put a name to. She appears in "Heart of Darkness", where she tells Magatsu a thing or three before handing him the drawing of Shira's kimono. _

The Sweetest Guy 

The whole house was silent for once as O-ren hurried up the stairs and down the corridor to her room. Ooh, it was so HOT lately! It made the dust from the street even worse, and she pictured herself being covered with it, totally grey. She hoped the sweat hadn't made her makeup run. 

Opening the door, she went straight for the mirror, and jumped when she suddenly heard a drowsy "Hey" from the window.  A low, familiar and dearly loved voice. Tai-Tai!

With a happy shriek she flung herself on him, hugging him for all she was worth. He was here! He was here!! He was back!!

"Hey! Shi- ...sheesh, girl, easy! You wanna break something or what??"  But he smiled. Oooh, how she had missed that smile, those eyes, that hair...giggling, she ran her hands through it.

"You're back!!" she squealed.

"Sure seems that way, doesn't it?" He hugged her back for a bit and she clung to him, refusing to let go. 

"I didn't think you'd be back until tomorrow!" she mumbled against his chest. "I even went to buy myself a new hairpin, just so I'd look good when you arrived. Look!" She took the hairpin from her kimono and handed it to him proudly. He looked at it briefly, smiled slightly and gave it back. 

"Nice," he said simply. She noticed how tired he looked. "Yeah, I'm back early" he sighed,"and I'll be leaving early too. Just staying the night."

Her heart sank. "Oh." 

She was silent for a moment, trying to quench the disappointment welling up inside her. "So...." she said, "where have you been?" Her grip on him tightened a bit and he winced.

"Easy, easy. Damn. I'm not all healed up yet." he muttered. Gently, he pried her arms loose, settling for holding her hands in his. She stared at him.

"Healed? You're hurt??" 

"Yeah. Took a sword through the gut. But it's OK."

"_Magatsu Tai_-" she started sternly, but stopped herself. His life WAS his, after all. His, not hers, and this was just another bitter little reminder. She sighed. Her little Tai-Tai.

 She wrapped her arms around him again, careful not to touch the wounded spot."Where HAVE you been, Tai-Tai?" she asked quietly.

He stroked her hair gently so as not to mess it up. "My old home village actually. Senzoku."

"Oh?" She looked up. "What were you doing there?" 

"Ahh, just passed by. Visited some graves.  Old, familiar places. You know. Creepy how little things have changed over there."  

His gaze turned sort of dreamy for a while, and his hand rubbed her shoulder in an absent-minded display of affection. She guessed it was affection. 

"So, how did you get the wound?" she asked quietly. He looked at her for a while.

"Some things... you probably shouldn't know. Now, I need to sleep, but...how have your...customers been treating ya while I was away? Huh?"

She sighed, reluctantly letting go of him. "Well, no one's been rude or anything."  Flashing him a tight smile, she tried to look cheerful. "It's been alright." 

He tilted his head a bit, studying her face. "'No one's been rude, but....'? 

She let her smile fade,  and put a hand to her forehead. "Well...*sigh*....there's just been all these guys asking for...strange stuff lately. Of course, people have before, but...." 

Folding her arms, she let out a deep breath. "I...I just wish they wouldn't....I mean, it's not like I'm some...some DOG or anything!"  She blushed slightly and felt the tears well up. 

He stood and held her for awhile while she cried against his chest. She wondered if he was blushing, what he was thinking....

"Those goddamn sons of bitches" he whispered under his breath. She could feel him tense, and at that moment she felt safe. Her Tai-Tai would protect her. 

"Well...." she said, once her tears had run out, " it's not like it's forbidden or anything, and...it's my job, so..." 

He nodded. He understood.

She kept hugging him until he muttered something about getting some sleep. She watched him while he spread out his futon on the floor. She offered to get him some food, but he had already eaten. At the dojo. That he had visited before her. 

As he tied his hair back, she studied his face. She remembered how she had felt when she first saw him. That wild, spiky hair, the mask over his face, that huge monster sword by his side... it was so far from the Tai-Tai that she had come to love. Magatsu. Taito. To her, those were two different people. 

She knelt by his side and picked up the sword. He glanced at her, but didn't protest.

 It felt strange in her hands. So heavy, so cold, so...brutal. How could anyone be COMFORTABLE with carrying around a thing like this? How could anyone.... 

Her gaze fell on a small spot on the hilt and suddenly her insides turned to ice. It was just a little stain. Tiny. You could hardly notice it. But it was blood.

He took the sword back without a word. She felt like crying again. He gave her cheek a quick stroke.

"I'll be leaving early, kid." 

She nodded and bent over to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. Then he settled down on his futon and turned his back to her. It took two minutes for him to fall asleep.

"He's not....he's not MEAN or anything. He just...he has his life, you know." 

O-ren glanced over at Hana's freckled face, which had a wry expression as she blew smoke from the corner of her mouth.  

Twelve long hours had passed since Tai-Tai had left. They were sitting on the back porch of Yukimachi, and would have enjoyed the cool evening air much  more if it weren't for what they were discussing.

"O-ren, he's using you. Get me? U-S-I-N-G.  I can't believe you let him TREAT you like that!"

"He's a _kenshi_. It's not strange for kenshi to travel around a lot. Is it?"  

Hana snorted.

"Well, this particular one breaks the record. Listen, -"  But O-ren interrupted her:

"No, YOU listen. He...he's the sweetest...I mean, he really DOES care, I know he does. He'll hold me when I want to be held, he'll listen when I need to talk. He wouldn't use me like the others. I mean, he's never even tried to kiss me!"

"Oooh, Mr.Loove." Hana blew out a long trail of smoke with the sentence.

O-ren sighed silently.  She had regretted bringing up the kiss part as soon as she'd done it.

"I..I don't really CARE if he's in love with me. I just...he cares! That's enough. That...for me, that's HUGE. He strokes my hair, he hugs me...and it just makes everything better."  The thought brought a smile to her face.

Hana studied her.

"You know what happened to his little sister, right?"

O-ren was silent for a while. 

"Yes. Why?"

"Well, it could be one of THOSE things, you know." Hana took a puff on her pipe.

"What do you mean?"

A looooong whisp of smoke left Hana's lips as she sighed.

"I'm saying that he could be seeing you as a replacement for his li'l sis. Maybe you look like her or something - I don't know."

O-ren thought of this for a while.

"Well..." said Hana finally as she got up to head inside "...it's your life, Ren. I just....the guy is cute and all, and Lord knows he has a pretty butt....." O-ren smiled. "...but just because a guy is tragic, doesn't make him a hero, OK? See him for what he is. A loner. A guy who's dedicated his life to a damn sword. A killer."

"...and a bastard." O-ren heard her add to herself as she went inside.

Sighing, she stayed where she was. She didn't feel like weeping right now. She didn't even feel like being angry.  She would just go inside and go to bed. And see the folded futon in the corner, the one that wasn't hers.  

_My Tai-Tai._

Finally she got up and went inside. Tomorrow would be just another day.

The end 


End file.
